The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is trying to speed up the rulemaking process for exchanges and other self-regulatory organizations that operate under SEC oversight.

The commission voted unanimously to approve a final rule and issue new interpretive guidance to address concerns about rule-processing delays. It has proposed to amend its internal rules to require that any proposed rule change filed by an SRO for review be published within 15 business days.

Under the current rules, when a proposed rule change is submitted by an SRO for review, the SEC is required to approve it or institute proceedings to disapprove it within 35 days of its publication. This 35-day deadline can be extended for up to 90 days in certain cases.

Along with the new, shorter deadline, the SEC also is issuing new interpretive guidance to elaborate on the commission’s views regarding proposed rule changes that may properly be filed to take effect immediately.

The SEC says that as markets have transformed from member-owned quasi-utilities into shareholder-owned, for-profit businesses, there’s an even greater premium on the SEC reviewing the rule proposals of SROs in a timely manner. It believes the changes will help increase the competitiveness of U.S. markets, the speed with which new products and services can be made available to investors and the effectiveness of measures designed to protect investors.

“Exchanges are competing with one another to provide more products to more investors more efficiently than ever before,” said SEC chairman Christopher Cox. “But exchanges today also need to be able to change their rules quickly to respond to investors’ needs in this competitive environment. These changes in the SEC’s internal procedures should help strengthen the protection of investors who reap the benefits of healthier and more competitive markets.”